Ephesians 4:11-16 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, (12) to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, (14) so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (15) Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, (16) from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Much ado has been paid to titles & gifts in the church; some claim titles based on fanciful notions of innate abilities, as well as outright self-centered avarice. But titles come as abilities are given, nurtured, then proven by experience. Like salvation itself, they are not borne from the heart & ability of man, but the purposed will & authority of God. (1 Cor. 1:1, 2 Cor 1:1, Gal. 1:1, et. al.)
The apostle is the highest calling man can have. He is a man “set apart for the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1) & has entire churches as a testament to his “workmanship in the Lord” (1Cor. 9:1-2). Paul spells out more of the traits of the apostle in 2 Cor 12:12- “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.”
Jesus selected only twelve of His disciples to be apostles & gifted them:
Mark 3:14-15 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach (15) and have authority to cast out demons.
Luke 9:1-2 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, (2) and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.
Acts 2:42-43 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (43) And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
Quite simply an apostle is nothing less than one who possesses, by the appointment (1Tim. 2:7) of God, all the titles & gifts of God in his person. He shepherds, preaches, teaches, prophesies, evangelizes, works miracles, & has complete authority over comparatively large portions of Christ’s church body. All gifts of God are potentially actionable through the office of apostle.
Yet even at this level of stewardship to Christ, such are not perfect. Their faith was sometimes weak (Luke 17:5), & despite their anointing, their authority was sometimes suppressed by this faithlessness (Luke. 9:40-41). The apostle Peter had to be dressed down by the apostle Paul for conduct “not in step with the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:14). Paul himself confesses that the intransigent old man is still at war against his soul (Rom. 7) & he is powerless (but still joyful) against Satan’s thorn in his flesh as a result (2 Cor 12:7). So perseverant humility & transparency are shown to be more marks of the apostle.
It would seem to have been a requirement to have actually witnessed Jesus Christ for one to be accorded the office, given the statements of Acts1:22-23 & 1 Cor. 9:1. Yet another standard the guy on TV or the strip mall storefront probably doesn’t meet.
Then, further denying the concept of the modern apostle, is the fact that his “workmanship” is taught to be foundational not simply to a church, but the church; that “household of God” that been has passed down for nearly 2000 years…
Ephesians 2:13-22 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (14) For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility (15) by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, (16) and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. (17) And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. (18) For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. (19) So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, (20) built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, (21) in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. (22) In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Such a momentous structure as this, a building with no less than Christ as the cornerstone & His apostles & prophets being the very substance for the rest of the foundation, is not the kind of building I could imagine being torn down past the foundation & rebuilt with new apostles & prophets with every generation that passes. As Moses & the prophets were deemed sufficient for the rich man's family (Luke 16:29), God has apparently determined the original apostles & prophets to be sufficient for us.
The Greek “apostolos” means “a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders” (Thayer) & clearly- according to Acts 1:2- God is their only “commander”. Pretty large person; indeed, so large that Heb. 3:1 even attributes the title to Christ Himself:
Hebrews 3:1-3 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, (2) who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. (3) For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses- as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.
It is the natural man’s typical impetus to crave such power over other men. But I see no man since the days of the early church exhibiting such Godly power, & it may well be until Christ returns that earthly eyes would gaze upon one in possession of such authority again.
So one would be wise to beware of anyone claiming such a title, for pride & deception must surely rule his soul. Possibly, ignorance of the scope of the biblical precedent for apostleship might be the cause for a modern "apostle's" misguided appropriation of such a title, but that biblical ignorance proves as well his improper appropriation.
There is one more way the true earthly apostle imitates Christ- the ultimate Apostle (for He was also "sent"- John 3:16)- the apostle often suffers death for the sake of the Gospel:
Luke 11:49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute.
Church history records that every established apostle but John died for his witness of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:27-28 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
(28) And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Who Owns Your Life?
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
It is puzzling for the Christian to look into the eyes of unbelievers & see them lacking the fear of judgment. We read God’s Word & are humbled at the extent of His wrath upon men for sin. But it is for the sake of justice & righteousness that God must produce an indictment for every sin.
Ezekiel 18:1-4 The word of the LORD came to me: (2) "What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? (3) As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. (4) Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.
“The soul who sins shall die”- Thus the reason for the utter pervasiveness of death. As Scripture teaches, “all have sinned” & so all must suffer through the sting of a physical death. Sin & death are a tangible tandem testifying to the truth of judgment; both are clearly real, for they are all around us, & so they, in the light of God’s Word, add veracity & conviction surrounding the certainty of God’s judgment.
God is righteous despite the many deadly tragedies occurring worldwide on a daily basis. We see apparent randomness in suffering & death in that the elect of God suffer right alongside (or worse, out in front of) the ungodly. We grouse “Why, Lord?” Aside from the aforementioned tandem testimonies of sin & death, we miss the fundamental truth that our lives are not our own. All life is a gift from God- as Deuteronomy 32:39 states- “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.” And if all life originates, as well as reverts to the Almighty, therein making them all His possession, how much more so would this be true in the case of His bond-servants, even His very children? Therefore:
We err when we view this life as our possession. God has said “Behold, all souls are mine;” life is His to give & His to take away- as He desires.
Ezekiel 18:23-32 “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (24) But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die. (25) Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? (26) When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. (27) Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. (28) Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. (29) Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?
(30) Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. (31) Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? (32) For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live."
God judges the impenitent not in gleeful delight, but in somber duty. Therein, in judgment, there is no pleasure for the righteous; yea, the Most Righteous is all the more not pleasured to judge.
Nevertheless, for those under the oppression of the wicked judgment, the righteous judgment comes with great joy, for both Judge & defendant. Witness the words of David as he suffered unjustly, but expected God’s future judgment:
Psalms 35:9-12 Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD, exulting in his salvation. (10) All my bones shall say, "O LORD, who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him?" (11) Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know. (12) They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft…(28) Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; And let them say continually, "The LORD be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant." (28) And my tongue shall declare Your righteousness And Your praise all day long.
1 Chronicles 16:33 Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the LORD; For He is coming to judge the earth.
So we rejoice not in the suffering of the wicked, but in the sovereign power of His salvation. How can we neglect so great a salvation as this that always triumphs, either at the cross or the Bema Seat, in righteous judgment?
Who else could own your life but the very One who enabled you to “pass from death to life“?
It is puzzling for the Christian to look into the eyes of unbelievers & see them lacking the fear of judgment. We read God’s Word & are humbled at the extent of His wrath upon men for sin. But it is for the sake of justice & righteousness that God must produce an indictment for every sin.
Ezekiel 18:1-4 The word of the LORD came to me: (2) "What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? (3) As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. (4) Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.
“The soul who sins shall die”- Thus the reason for the utter pervasiveness of death. As Scripture teaches, “all have sinned” & so all must suffer through the sting of a physical death. Sin & death are a tangible tandem testifying to the truth of judgment; both are clearly real, for they are all around us, & so they, in the light of God’s Word, add veracity & conviction surrounding the certainty of God’s judgment.
God is righteous despite the many deadly tragedies occurring worldwide on a daily basis. We see apparent randomness in suffering & death in that the elect of God suffer right alongside (or worse, out in front of) the ungodly. We grouse “Why, Lord?” Aside from the aforementioned tandem testimonies of sin & death, we miss the fundamental truth that our lives are not our own. All life is a gift from God- as Deuteronomy 32:39 states- “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.” And if all life originates, as well as reverts to the Almighty, therein making them all His possession, how much more so would this be true in the case of His bond-servants, even His very children? Therefore:
We err when we view this life as our possession. God has said “Behold, all souls are mine;” life is His to give & His to take away- as He desires.
Ezekiel 18:23-32 “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (24) But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die. (25) Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? (26) When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. (27) Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. (28) Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. (29) Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?
(30) Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. (31) Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? (32) For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live."
God judges the impenitent not in gleeful delight, but in somber duty. Therein, in judgment, there is no pleasure for the righteous; yea, the Most Righteous is all the more not pleasured to judge.
Nevertheless, for those under the oppression of the wicked judgment, the righteous judgment comes with great joy, for both Judge & defendant. Witness the words of David as he suffered unjustly, but expected God’s future judgment:
Psalms 35:9-12 Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD, exulting in his salvation. (10) All my bones shall say, "O LORD, who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him?" (11) Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know. (12) They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft…(28) Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; And let them say continually, "The LORD be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant." (28) And my tongue shall declare Your righteousness And Your praise all day long.
1 Chronicles 16:33 Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the LORD; For He is coming to judge the earth.
So we rejoice not in the suffering of the wicked, but in the sovereign power of His salvation. How can we neglect so great a salvation as this that always triumphs, either at the cross or the Bema Seat, in righteous judgment?
Who else could own your life but the very One who enabled you to “pass from death to life“?
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Does Jesus Promise Abundant Life or Abundant Living?
John 5:24-26 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (25) Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. (26) For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.
False preachers abound in this day; they delude many with “plausible arguments” (Col. 2:4). My point has always been that the wolf’s sheepskin vestment can ripped away if we pursue the course of the noble Berean. Scripture, taken in full scope, will reveal the lies of the false preachers to the true believer every time.
One untruth often taught is that, despite the obvious fact that the old man of sin still dwells within, God desires nothing for us but popcorn pleasantries. The God who hated our sin so much He sent His beloved to be sin for us has no ill emotion towards the depravities that still dwell within our soul- or so they would say. But like the young rich ruler, one mark of the true believer is his cognition of a “lack” (Matt. 19:20). Even the most zealous & mature of Christians will testify of this “lack” if they are true, as Paul does in Phil. 3:12.
So the question for today is “What is the nature of this ‘life’ that Christ so often promises to us?”
John 10:1-10 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. (2) But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. (3) To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (4) When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. (5) A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." (6) This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. (7) So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. (8) All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. (9) I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. (10) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
A prevalent teaching amongst spiritual thieves & robbers is that the “life” of John 10:10 refers to an “abundance” of health & wealth in the walk of every believer. Any believer found lacking prosperity, as defined by the world, is said to be lacking in his faith. They load upon the backs of believers the heavy burden of having it all in this life, else it dare be said that that they are not even in Christ. These “podium pundits” proclaim prosperity as the mark of believers, & falsely lead many towards trying to bear unbearable burdens.
Christ instead promises that our burden will be light. The life He promises is not the weighty one wasted trying to battle Satan in a vain attempt to force him to “give us back our stuff”, but a life dedicated to follow in the steps of Christ Himself. The “pulpit preacher” declares the life of Christ on earth to be our pattern for living on this earth as well.
Charles Spurgeon preached from a pulpit. The word speaks to a place where a hard, but needed message is spoken from. Even in the secular, the term infers a place where a difficult, hard to swallow truth is spoken- hence the President's "bully pulpit".
Sometimes the most insidious message is the not the one explicitly teaching falsehoods, but the one with a misplaced focus on minor issues, therein overshadowing the major issues. We don’t see anything clearly contrary to God’s Word taught, so we relax & take in what is taught as good & right. But before we get comfortable we should step back & judge what seems to be the aim of the ministry- maybe empowering “your best life now”- & then we should see the incongruity of this ministry with Jesus’ ministry. Oftentimes, even as the Savior met peoples’ most obvious, apparent, & present needs, He would overshadow these needs by majoring on their deepest need- for a Savior to rescue them from judgment for their sin. Clearly, Jesus saw the paralytic’s faith in Christ, but did not regard his infirmity as his fundamental lack, as the first thing He said to him was “Man, your sins are forgiven you" (Luke 5:20). Christ has not only saves us from Hell, but He promises us- through His righteousness- a position in Heaven. This is primarily the “life” that Christ promises.Thus, the danger of the subtle lie. The Gospel should not be reduced to one line at the end of a message on abundantly prosperous life. The Gospel should be the message, for our life is found only in Christ.
For us, the liars say, no discipline, no pain, no suffering are ever in the heart of God As they would tell it, Christ not only served us by suffering the indignities & anguish of the cross 2000 years ago, but He lives to serve our every whim today.
They have no awareness of the measure of abundance found in the joyful prescience of a person looking forward to the promise of an eternity with Christ.
Colossians 3:1-4 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (2) Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (3) For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (4) When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Matthew 18:7-9 "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! (8) And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. (9) And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire."
Crippled, lame, & half-blind doesn’t line up very well with the false preacher’s portrait of “abundant” life. Then again, they are rarely dissuaded by such barriers as countermanding Christ’s call to desire the eternal richness of the Holy Spirit. Christ instructs His disciples to be poor in their own spirit- like the tax collector of Luke 18:13- so as to instead “enter life” & receive the riches of God’s Spirit. Light & darkness do not co-exist; rather, the Light that is Jesus Christ illuminates the otherwise dank darkness of man’s heart.
2 Corinthians 4:8-11 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; (9) persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; (10) always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (11) For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
Clearly, the life promised here is not a life of pure peaches & cream, but one expressly of afflictions, perplexities, & persecutions. The “abundant life” is in the not being crushed, disparaged, or destroyed despite the aforementioned strife, not the simple doing away with such troubles.
When Paul said “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21), he was fixing his eyes upon the prescient hope of dwelling with Jesus for eternity; this speaks to the Biblical truth of the truly blessed life being the one to come in heavenly places. False preachers love to quote John 10:10, but the far more common descriptor of the kind of life Jesus promises is “eternal life”. 43 times in the NT (ESV) the Spirit describes the life given to believers in this way. Indeed, if the false preacher dared read on in John 10, they would see Jesus clarifying the manner of “life” that He guarantees us:
John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Our fundamental promise is not founded upon the witness of bountiful blessings in this life, but a joyful, confident expectation of the life to come in Heaven. We should not judge the measure of God’s love for us by the measure of either health or wealth we seem to possess here; instead we should look to the cross to rightly judge the true measure of God’s love for His beloved:
1 John 4:9-10 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (10) In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Anyone really desiring the truth on this need not even go outside the Gospels to find further evidence that sometimes God does indeed give us a cross of suffering for us to carry in this life:
Mark 8:34-36 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (35) For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. (36) For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
But we do not even need to go that far from John 10:10 to see the “life” Christ promises is not one centered on the pleasantries of this life. Indeed, those “podium pundits” could flip back the page to John 9 to see that God does not always have a life of pure pleasure in store for His people. The blind man suffered blindness his whole life to that point in time so “that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Or, they could flip ahead to John 11:
John 11:1-6 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (2) It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. (3) So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." (4) But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." (5) Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. (6) So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
Given that He suffered for us, sometimes He allows suffering to enter our life in this world too. This is where the “perplexities” Paul mentions above sometimes come into play. Although the Spirit gives us understanding in the examples of John 9 & 11, we don’t always know why we suffer; but our faith in the sovereign authority & utter goodness of God places trust that He has our back in the end.
Furthermore, what we need to fix our hope upon in this life is the revelation that this “life” is with us here as well. Scripture that Christ is with us here too, & He substantially is this “life”.
1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 17:1-3 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, (2) since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. (3) And this is eternal life- that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
False preachers abound in this day; they delude many with “plausible arguments” (Col. 2:4). My point has always been that the wolf’s sheepskin vestment can ripped away if we pursue the course of the noble Berean. Scripture, taken in full scope, will reveal the lies of the false preachers to the true believer every time.
One untruth often taught is that, despite the obvious fact that the old man of sin still dwells within, God desires nothing for us but popcorn pleasantries. The God who hated our sin so much He sent His beloved to be sin for us has no ill emotion towards the depravities that still dwell within our soul- or so they would say. But like the young rich ruler, one mark of the true believer is his cognition of a “lack” (Matt. 19:20). Even the most zealous & mature of Christians will testify of this “lack” if they are true, as Paul does in Phil. 3:12.
So the question for today is “What is the nature of this ‘life’ that Christ so often promises to us?”
John 10:1-10 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. (2) But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. (3) To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (4) When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. (5) A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." (6) This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. (7) So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. (8) All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. (9) I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. (10) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
A prevalent teaching amongst spiritual thieves & robbers is that the “life” of John 10:10 refers to an “abundance” of health & wealth in the walk of every believer. Any believer found lacking prosperity, as defined by the world, is said to be lacking in his faith. They load upon the backs of believers the heavy burden of having it all in this life, else it dare be said that that they are not even in Christ. These “podium pundits” proclaim prosperity as the mark of believers, & falsely lead many towards trying to bear unbearable burdens.
Christ instead promises that our burden will be light. The life He promises is not the weighty one wasted trying to battle Satan in a vain attempt to force him to “give us back our stuff”, but a life dedicated to follow in the steps of Christ Himself. The “pulpit preacher” declares the life of Christ on earth to be our pattern for living on this earth as well.
Charles Spurgeon preached from a pulpit. The word speaks to a place where a hard, but needed message is spoken from. Even in the secular, the term infers a place where a difficult, hard to swallow truth is spoken- hence the President's "bully pulpit".
Sometimes the most insidious message is the not the one explicitly teaching falsehoods, but the one with a misplaced focus on minor issues, therein overshadowing the major issues. We don’t see anything clearly contrary to God’s Word taught, so we relax & take in what is taught as good & right. But before we get comfortable we should step back & judge what seems to be the aim of the ministry- maybe empowering “your best life now”- & then we should see the incongruity of this ministry with Jesus’ ministry. Oftentimes, even as the Savior met peoples’ most obvious, apparent, & present needs, He would overshadow these needs by majoring on their deepest need- for a Savior to rescue them from judgment for their sin. Clearly, Jesus saw the paralytic’s faith in Christ, but did not regard his infirmity as his fundamental lack, as the first thing He said to him was “Man, your sins are forgiven you" (Luke 5:20). Christ has not only saves us from Hell, but He promises us- through His righteousness- a position in Heaven. This is primarily the “life” that Christ promises.Thus, the danger of the subtle lie. The Gospel should not be reduced to one line at the end of a message on abundantly prosperous life. The Gospel should be the message, for our life is found only in Christ.
For us, the liars say, no discipline, no pain, no suffering are ever in the heart of God As they would tell it, Christ not only served us by suffering the indignities & anguish of the cross 2000 years ago, but He lives to serve our every whim today.
They have no awareness of the measure of abundance found in the joyful prescience of a person looking forward to the promise of an eternity with Christ.
Colossians 3:1-4 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (2) Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (3) For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (4) When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Matthew 18:7-9 "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! (8) And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. (9) And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire."
Crippled, lame, & half-blind doesn’t line up very well with the false preacher’s portrait of “abundant” life. Then again, they are rarely dissuaded by such barriers as countermanding Christ’s call to desire the eternal richness of the Holy Spirit. Christ instructs His disciples to be poor in their own spirit- like the tax collector of Luke 18:13- so as to instead “enter life” & receive the riches of God’s Spirit. Light & darkness do not co-exist; rather, the Light that is Jesus Christ illuminates the otherwise dank darkness of man’s heart.
2 Corinthians 4:8-11 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; (9) persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; (10) always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (11) For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
Clearly, the life promised here is not a life of pure peaches & cream, but one expressly of afflictions, perplexities, & persecutions. The “abundant life” is in the not being crushed, disparaged, or destroyed despite the aforementioned strife, not the simple doing away with such troubles.
When Paul said “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21), he was fixing his eyes upon the prescient hope of dwelling with Jesus for eternity; this speaks to the Biblical truth of the truly blessed life being the one to come in heavenly places. False preachers love to quote John 10:10, but the far more common descriptor of the kind of life Jesus promises is “eternal life”. 43 times in the NT (ESV) the Spirit describes the life given to believers in this way. Indeed, if the false preacher dared read on in John 10, they would see Jesus clarifying the manner of “life” that He guarantees us:
John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Our fundamental promise is not founded upon the witness of bountiful blessings in this life, but a joyful, confident expectation of the life to come in Heaven. We should not judge the measure of God’s love for us by the measure of either health or wealth we seem to possess here; instead we should look to the cross to rightly judge the true measure of God’s love for His beloved:
1 John 4:9-10 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (10) In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Anyone really desiring the truth on this need not even go outside the Gospels to find further evidence that sometimes God does indeed give us a cross of suffering for us to carry in this life:
Mark 8:34-36 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (35) For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. (36) For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
But we do not even need to go that far from John 10:10 to see the “life” Christ promises is not one centered on the pleasantries of this life. Indeed, those “podium pundits” could flip back the page to John 9 to see that God does not always have a life of pure pleasure in store for His people. The blind man suffered blindness his whole life to that point in time so “that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Or, they could flip ahead to John 11:
John 11:1-6 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (2) It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. (3) So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." (4) But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." (5) Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. (6) So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
Given that He suffered for us, sometimes He allows suffering to enter our life in this world too. This is where the “perplexities” Paul mentions above sometimes come into play. Although the Spirit gives us understanding in the examples of John 9 & 11, we don’t always know why we suffer; but our faith in the sovereign authority & utter goodness of God places trust that He has our back in the end.
Furthermore, what we need to fix our hope upon in this life is the revelation that this “life” is with us here as well. Scripture that Christ is with us here too, & He substantially is this “life”.
1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 17:1-3 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, (2) since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. (3) And this is eternal life- that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
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